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Reviews > Eye Protection > Sun Glasses > Smith Theory > Gail Staisil > Field ReportSMITH THEORY SUNGLASSES
FIELD REPORT
Backpacking Background: For the last 15 years, backpacking has become a passion. I am a four season backpacker and an off-trail navigator. Although I do take yearly trips to the American West or Southwest, the majority of my trips are in Michigan and Canada. My pack weight varies considerably, but my base weight is under 20 lbs (9.1 kg). I am primarily a tarp camper, that averages over 50 nights a year backpacking in a huge variety of weather conditions, including relentless rain, wet snow and sub zero temps. Product Information:
Features of Smith Theory Sunglasses per website:
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
The Smith Theory sunglass system is an innovative set of wrap style frame
sunglasses with interchangeable lenses. For testing purposes, I received
more than the standard package of three lenses. Three additional lenses
were included for different conditions.
The lenses I received are as follows:
Platinum Mirror - a True Gray lens tint with silver mirror, it cuts
light
and glare by reflecting it away from the eye. RC36 - a Rose Copper universal lens providing the best vision for the widest variety of light conditions Yellow (and Yellow Max) - for low light and flat conditions Polar Gray -a polarized lens that reduces 99% of reflected glare from water, sand and pavement Sienna (and Sienna Max) - for sunny or slightly overcast days FIELD LOCATION AND CONDITIONS
During the last two months of field testing the Smith Optics Theory Lenses,
I have worn them on an almost daily basis. I've had the opportunity to test them
while experiencing snow, rain, wind and sun, with temperatures ranging from lows
in the 20's F (-7C) to highs in the 80's F(27C). Spring time in Michigan
brings a variety of temperatures seemingly at the drop of a hat. During this
time I have engaged in various activities including cross country skiing, trail
running, bicycling, hiking and five weekend backpack trips. I have also
used them while driving and running errands about town.
Much of my testing period involved activities that were done in the
immediate mid-Michigan area where I presently live. The terrain is mostly
flat, with mixed forest and sandy soil. Four short backpack trips and
one weekend day hiking trip were done in areas of northern Michigan where
the terrain is much hillier, as well as having an abundance of
water sources and deciduous forest. These trips included three trips
to the North Country Trail/ Manistee River area, the Jordan River Valley and the
Green Timbers area in the Pigeon River State Forest.
Urban Usage:
My first test days revolved around cross country skiing at the local
forest. The conditions included temperature. in the mid 30's F ( 3 C)...a
bit warm for skiing, but I was taking advantage of the lasting snow conditions.
Skiing was done in the late afternoon in to the evening hours. I wore the
Platinum Mirrored lenses to see if my eyes would adjust to the fading light
conditions. I also wore a light ski hat with the ears of the lenses on the
outside of my hat. I was immediately impressed with the comfort of the glasses
and almost forgot that I was wearing them, as I skied until well after
sunset. I had no trouble adapting to the changes in light. I also had no problem
with the lenses fogging as this is a very common problem in high humidity, warm
snow conditions.
As the snow conditions faded in my area of the state, I naturally
gravitated to start running again on the local trails. Since most of my
runs are in the early evening hours, the Yellow lenses or the Rose Copper
lenses seemed to be the most versatile for me. However, it has to be
an extremely overcast day for me to use the Yellow lenses as my light blue eyes
are very light sensitive. This may change as the mostly deciduous forest
becomes gloomier with the slowly emerging leaf cover.
For driving purposes, I wear the Smith glasses daily. The two lenses that I
have used almost constantly, are the Platinum Mirror and the Polar Gray
selections. Both of them allow light transmission of 15%. On sunny days, I find
that the mirrored lenses are preferable. I was surprised as the polarized lenses
are supposed to reflect 99% of the glare away from the eyes. The mirrored lenses
also reflect light away, although there are no claims as to the degree, I find
them to be better suited to my driving tasks. The rimless bottom of the lenses
is a neat advantage...it's easy to forget that I have glasses on. The distortion
free lenses are also wonderful when driving a vehicle. In my initial
report, I noted that I didn't wear prescription lenses of any sort...I shouldn't
have bragged because now I am wearing prescription reading glasses with
progressive lenses and I certainly know what distortion feels like. Luckily my
long distance vision is still normal, so I can still utilize the Smith
Optics instead of prescription glasses while navigating
traffic.
I have also worn the Smith lenses on four approximately 25 mile
(40K) bicycle trips, this Spring on the Pere Marquette Rail
Trail. Conditions for all of these trips varied with wind being a huge factor on
two of the trips. I was impressed with the lens coverage of the eye area during
those conditions. It is not uncommon when cycling, for particles of debris to
blow in to my face or to have my eyes become wind-burnt. I ride a road
bike with my hands on the lower drops, so a close fit across the eyebrow
area is essential for keeping debris and wind out of my eyes. So far, my
rides have been relatively short, but I have felt no discomfort
from wearing a helmet over the sunglass ear stems. This has been
an issue with some of my old sunglasses in the past, as the ear stems would dig
in to my scalp.
Back Country Usage:
Manistee River Trail - March 26/27
Cool winter conditions still prevailed on this holiday weekend. Snow cover
was mostly complete but the trail itself was mostly ice. This trail is mostly
along a river's edge so there was a lot of reflection due to open water in the
river and snow existing on the sides of the trail. I decided to use the Polar
Gray lenses for this trip as I thought it might be neat to peer into the many
creeks that I would cross as I slowly navigated this trail. The forest along the
river varies as to the type but it is a mixture of evergreen and deciduous
forest. I purposely stopped many times to look in to the creeks to see if I
could locate any fish. It must of been too cold yet for them to leave the
security of the bottom of the creek beds. These creeks are very clear so it is
actually easy to see without polarized lenses but of course the lenses eliminate
the extra glare from the sun.
Green Timbers Tract - April 1-3
Although there had been a significant melt of snow during the previous
week, the woods were still covered in snow for this off-trail navigation trip. I
decided to use the mirrored lenses as there was significantly sunny conditions.
The hardwood forests were still devoid of any leaf cover so it was just like
being out in the open as far as light conditions were concerned. I decided to
keep my Platinum Mirror lenses on as they perfectly fit the
conditions. Glasses are an essential tool when navigating through the
forest. Since this was primarily a bushwhack trip, I was anxious to find
out how these glasses did in navigating through brush...would they hook on
something and fall off?...would they keep my eyes protected from stray branches?
...would they catch on something and break? I have had all of these things
happen in the past with other glasses, so of course I was curious. Three days of
success..no mishaps!
Jordan River Pathway - April 9/10
Eighteen miles (29 kilometers) of trail walking, the area
was now devoid of snow but no emerging leaf forest cover yet. The
temps for this trip were rather hot for the beginning of April in Michigan..in
fact it got in to the 70's F (21 C) on the second day...a good test for
slippage as far as the nose pieces and ear stems were concerned. This was a
rather fast pace aerobic trip as well. The glasses stayed nicely in place
and did not slide down my sweaty face.
Manistee River Trail/North Country Trail - April 30/ May
1
This weekend was predicted to be cold and rainy...a good test condition for
the Rose Copper lenses with 36 percent light transmission. I started this 22
mile ( 35 kilometers) backpack in cold conditions (40 F/ 4
C), but the rain never became a factor. I wore the Rose Copper Lenses and
about 6 miles (10 kilometers) in to the trip, I changed the lenses to
Polar Gray...the light was hurting my eyes, as the sun came out in to a partly
cloudy sky, so the polarized lenses were a better choice with less light
transmission.
Manistee River Trail/North Country Trail - May 14/15
Much of the same was forecast for this trip....lots of rain. It did rain
all the way to the trailhead which is over 100 miles (161
kilometers) Northeast of my home, but it stopped before I got out of the
car. It was still rather gloomy but I thought I might use the Rose
Copper lenses anyway. While I was driving, I had worn the Platinum Mirror
lenses as I like dark lenses for driving purposes. I fumbled changing the
lenses in the car before I ventured out on to the trail. I still seem to be
having some difficulty putting the replacement lenses in...some days are good,
some days I fumble. The frames have held up well to the gyrations that
they take when changing the lenses. The Rose Copper lenses turned out
to be perfect as the cloud cover disappeared for the most part,and it seemed to
be the right choice for the first day of hiking. The color of the lenses
actually made everything brighter than it really was...I had my camera along as
norm and when I would stop to take a picture of something that looked so rosy
through the lenses, I would be disappointed when I took my glasses off as the
colors weren't as neat...these of course make wonderful glasses for any day
that one would like to be brighter :) The next morning, I got back on the trail
shortly after sunrise so I selected the Rose Copper lenses, as it
promised to be an overcast day.
Overall on all of these trips, I found that I usually didn't change
lenses unless the sky cover became completely different. Even though it
takes only a few minutes to change the lenses, it is still some
times forgotten that it is a possibility. I do like having additional
lenses with me, as in the past I would usually only take one pair of sunglasses
with me on weekend trips. If the sky conditions changed, I had no lens
options for the trip. On extended trips, I would usually take a
dark pair of sunglasses and a pair with clear lenses to protect me from the
brush on lengthy bushwhacks. It is wonderful to now have the convenience of
having only one set of frames.
PRODUCT OBSERVATIONS
LIKES :)
Having a choice of lenses to utilize
The seemingly indestructible and bendable frames
Overall coverage from glare
Overall protection of eye area from obstacles
Comfort :)
DISLIKES :(
Some times troublesome to change lenses
Storage of lenses - I'm afraid of losing them
Soft storage case - hard case preferred
FUTURE TEST PLANS
In the next few months of testing, I will be entering the time period of
extended backcountry trips...I have the summer off :)) I anticipate
taking at least two extended back country trips in addition to a variety of
shorter trips. My bicycling and running activity will also see a sharp
rise. I will put the lenses through many difficult conditions such as
bushwhacking through heavy forest cover and temperature and
precipitation extremes. I am anxious to further test the two max
lenses that I also received to see if the additional coverage is
warranted.
Thanks to Smith Optics and BGT for the continued support in testing these
neat sunglasses.
Read more reviews of Smith gear Read more gear reviews by Gail Staisil Reviews > Eye Protection > Sun Glasses > Smith Theory > Gail Staisil > Field Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||